Water and three meals. A roof over their heads and a bed made of wood.

　That was certainly in line with the terms and conditions of my contract as a top-tier slave.

　But each one of them is a substitute that can never be considered the bare minimum. The stable had been messily converted, raindrops dripped from the roof, and the beds set up were broken and tilted. The food is the slightest vegetable scraps and moldy bread. The water in the jar also smells foul.

''I'm ... hungry, hungry ...''

　I couldn't help but notice a snatched voice coming out of my mouth. There are six men, including myself, sleeping in a room that doesn't even have a window, and it's a half-dead situation for all of us with hard work and little food.

　I've only been bought for a few days, but I've heard that the others have been in this environment for several months now.

　Looking back, I think the days I spent learning my skills in that restaurant were the best years of my life.

　It's been nearly ten years since we lost the war, were captured and sold into slavery. The days of slavery that had become so ingrained in me up to that point were certainly a life and environment similar to the one I live in now. In some cases, I hadn't been able to get a meal for a day or two.

　Normally, that's what slavery is.

　But it was different in that restaurant.

　We were given a better life than we had before we fell into slavery, and we received an advanced education and training to develop our skills because we needed it.

　Every day was hard, but full of fulfillment.

　And he was taught to perform his duties with a skill and pride that he would not be ashamed of as a top-tier slave. That was synonymous with being told that it was okay to live like a man again.

　And that was not good.

　I was blessed with the opportunity to improve myself and regain the confidence I had long forgotten.

　Therefore, my disappointment in my current situation and my despair for my future is so great that I feel as if I am at the bottom of the earth.

　Unknowingly, I found myself biting my back teeth and letting my lip tremble.

　I'm sad and angry, but most of all I'm frustrated. Even though I was told to do it, I tried harder than anyone else. I might be able to get out of that lousy life of slavery. That's what I thought, so I tried.

　And yet this is how it is treated.

　I wish I'd never been given hope if it had come to this.

　I let out a moan of frustration.

　I was about to turn my anger towards the foreign slave shop.

　Suddenly, the door of the room that was crumbling was broken down from the outside.

　Pieces of wood flew and familiar soldiers rolled across the floor. A man who is always watching and abusing slaves like us.

　The man who screamed like an animal was smacked by a huge arm in front of him and rolled to the back of the room once more.

　Then, a huge golem appears in the room.

''..... Golem in the land of the sky...!

　No, no. I thought so. But it had to be.

"Wow, you came to rescue me...?

　As I say this, the golem turns around and walks over to me, body by body. Its huge body curled up on its back, making it smaller, and lifted the entire bed I was on with a whimper.

　Apparently, it had really come to the rescue. The moment I thought that, my body relaxed.

''Thank God........''

　As I muttered that in a snatched voice, I suddenly saw the scenery around me.

'Can't we help them too, somehow...'

　The moment he muttered that, the golem only turned his face to look at the slaves.

''Eh?''

　The golem's actions took me by surprise, and now I turned to them to offer them the bed I was still on.

　I didn't think that a sorcerer from the Celestial Land nearby had heard my faint murmurings and actually acted on them.

　I marveled. But now I have more to do before that.

　I have to reach out to them, the poor shivering ones.




　In the control room of the castle in the sky, I crossed my arms and stared at the screen.

　I was in trouble.

　Those words came to my mind.

'.........Taiki-sama.

　I nod silently at Eira's worried voice. Then Maea, who now brought me the tea, nods her head.

''Didn't you help a slave who was being treated badly?''

　I shake my head from side to side as Maea asks me that with a curious look on her face, and I answer her.

''The trouble is, that seems to be the standard treatment of slaves in the Karruk Kingdom. So, I guess this time around, I've robbed a slave that is also the property of the baronial family of the Karruk Kingdom.

　As he replies, Maia raises her eyebrows.

''But Taiki-sama saved the slave.

'From the slaves' point of view, that's good, but not from the barons' point of view, I guess.

　He tells her that with a wry smile, but Maia doesn't seem to be convinced. She puffed out her cheeks and stared at the screen.

　And then Yuri, who had been watching quietly until now, opened his mouth with his eyebrows in the shape of a c shape.

''The momentum of Taiki-sama's shop will already be known. If the person you were wary of has broken his promise.......

'Well, it's a good chance to regulate business. I can't complain about it unless I have a good cause for it too. Nope, trouble, trouble.

　As I was muttering that with a sigh, Aifa turned to me with a supremely serious face.

''Before you are investigated, I will ride into the baronial family and negotiate with them. The one who broke the contract of the highest level slave first is the baronial family. Then there is no need for us to complain one way or the other.

''Well, it's hard to say since it was the Barons who broke the slave contract, and they've broken their agreement with the Karruk Kingdom not to plunder the kingdom's slaves, so it's hard to say...''

　From the perspective of the Karruk Kingdom, this is a violation of our unilateral agreement. It's reasonable for the baronial family to begin with a discussion.

　No matter how much the baronial family would break the contract of the highest level slave, it would be too much if they even took other slaves without permission. In the eyes of other countries, they would be seen as the tyranny of a celestial country.

　But it might be a good move to negotiate directly with the Barons.

''........Yes. Then, I'm sorry, but can I ask Aifa and, Yuri-san to do the same? Please negotiate with the barons. Please do so peacefully.

　When I said that, Aifa and Yuri nodded.